International Women’s Day 2016. What did you do to mark it?

Twitter & other social media platforms have been alight with chatter about #PledgeForParity, the 2016 theme for IWD. Two years ago, the World Economic Forum predicted that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. Clearly, there’s still a huge amount of work to be done when it comes to gender equality. But lots of amazing women (as well as some amazing men) are working to bridge that gap. And yesterday was all about that.

So I cut the strings which tie me to my desk and decided to mark IWD16 in some way. I didn’t want it to be just like any old day. I was invited along to an event arranged by Police Inspector Nicola Pierce of Thames Valley Police. A year in the making and her first event for IWD, it was truly a great few hours with some incredible women.

A number of senior police women spoke at the event. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Helen Hall from the Met and Detective Superintendent Kath Barnes from the South East Counter Terrorism Unit. Both amazing speakers, both sharing their experiences as women in the force.

They were joined by Viv Bowra who’s speech took the audience on an expedition to the Canadian High Arctic. Viv was part of the